A woman is hit with a stick repeatedly in the middle of a market – even after she starts bleeding – in videos that have emerged from Uttar Pradesh’s Mainpuri, the home turf of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s father Mulayam Singh Yadav. The woman’s little daughter wails as she clings to her mother.
The mother of two was beaten mercilessly, allegedly after she lashed out at two men for groping her when she asked for directions. The incident took place on Monday at a town in Mainpuri, around 200 km from Lucknow.One of the attackers has been arrested and the police are looking for the others.
While the mobile phone videos were taken by witnesses, it is apparent that no one tried to help the woman and her husband, who was also assaulted.
A man in a yellow sweater is seen hitting the woman repeatedly on her head and body and not stopping even when she starts bleeding. In another video, the couple’s daughter clutches her bleeding mother and cries, “Mummy…”
“I will shoot myself if those two aren’t caught and arrested,” the woman tells a police officer who arrived after a call.”One accused has been arrested and we are on the lookout for the others. I have formed special teams and I am monitoring the situation myself,” said Sunil Saxena, a top police officer in Mainpuri.
Months ahead of polls in the state, the videos have been seized by opposition parties as proof that criminal elements have a free run on the Samajwadi Party’s watch.
“There is a complete breakdown of law and order. The chief minister can launch as many new schemes as he wants, but till the police and people are scared of unruly elements who have state protection, nothing will work,” said Vijay Bahadur Pathak, a senior BJP leader in the state.
